Sneaky peek at something I'm working on...

Yep, I'm a tease ;) enjoy!

Sneaky peek at something I'm working on...

Yep, I'm a tease ;) enjoy!

Crafter..oo magazine - Mystery Package Challenge!

Well, it has been a while, hasn't it?! Honestly, I have had the roughest year you could imagine - I won't go into details as it will not do anyone any favours and well, my personal life is just that - I do not cross it with my craft life.

Anyway, this blog post is about the Crafter..oo Crafts forum who have put together an online craft magazine which has been put together by members of the forum and I am going to be involved in the second issue of it which is due to be released in Jan 1st 2012. If you'd like to take a sneak peek at issue #1, you can do so HERE (I think you may have to sign up for the forum to be able to buy it, but it's free to sign up) and if you go on to purchase it, it's a fabulous bargain price of just £1.50!

So, what's my contribution? Good question - I need your help! I am taking part in a Mystery Package Challenge - how exciting and intriguing does that sound?! But quite frankly, I'm a little bit intimidated by the contents of this package! There are several different materials - pretty much none of which I am experienced in using - EEK!

Ok, these pictures are what's in the package. I'll explain a bit more about the challenge afterwards.

This is the entire contents of the package.

Firstly, there's a page of a book. It's printed on both sides and has some German text on one side (as shown) and what looks like an appendix or contents page in English on the other side.

Then we have this beautiful selection of beads, buttons and charms! They're SO pretty to look at!

And finally, there are three different types of ribbon - a thin strip of pale blue satin-y ribbon, some white-ish organza-type ribbon which is a little wider and some white lace edging-type stuff. Oh, and that piece of grey/brown fabric is also part of the package!

I apologise for my lack of technical terminology in the descriptions - but as I previously mentioned, this is NOT the kind of stuff I am used to working with! And this is why I need your help. The rules/guidelines we have to follow for this project are:

• You may blog WIP pieces as a tease, as long as they do not give away too much about the final piece
• You agree not to post pictures anywhere on the web of the final piece until after issue 2 hits the shelves (or web, I suppose!)
• You may use supplies from your own stash, but please let the supplies in the "Mystery Package" be the main focus of what you make
• You do not need to use all the pieces that are in the "Mystery Package", but please try and use as many as you can.
• You can make more than one thing

Anyone who knows me or my work, knows that I primarily focus on yarn arts (knitting and crochet) and paper and card crafting, so this is completely new to me! Ideally, I'd like to try to work the items in this package into something covering those areas. I don't want to have to go out and purchase lots of expensive extras to be able to make this work - it's far too close to Christmas(!) to be thinking about spending my money on anything else so I want to use things I already own as much as possible too.

I have maybe a couple of basic ideas, but am not really sure how to make them work. If anyone has any ideas that may help me, please do comment. I will gladly consider anything you can suggest - although I won't be able to let you know whether I use your suggestion or not! And I don't want to steal whole ideas either, so please bear this in mind when commenting!

Thanks so much to every one of you who reads this. You're so supportive to me all of the time and I appreciate it more than you know! <3

And the winner is!

As chosen by my daughter, the process of which is shown in pictures as follows ;)

First I wrote all the entries on a piece of paper:

These were cut out and folded with the help of my daughter and put into a "pot" (aka a roll of sellotape on my bed!):

She put her hand into the "pot" and chose one name at random:

And the winner is..........

Anice! Who would like a bear the same as the one in the picture! Congratulations Anice, please email me at kaceysmom@gmail.com or contact me via my Facebook Page before Wednesday 10th August at midnight GMT!

If you weren't successful this time, don't worry! If you love these little bears, they are available to custom order (please give at least 4 weeks notice!) at just £5 each plus postage. You can contact me on the email address above or again, via my facebook page - link also above.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered and for all your continuing support!

A giveaway!

Did you all hear the news? Thanks to Send In The Troops on Facebook, my Facebook Page hit over 1000 fans! Can I get a "HELL YEAH!!" :D So, naturally, I'm going to celebrate this awesome feat and one of you lucky, lucky people gets to have your own custom crocheted bear! These little bears normally retail for £5 each, but you could have one entirely free!



Awww, isn't he cute? The variables are the colour of his (or her!) body - the main bear colour and the colour of his shirt. You can have the shirt sleeveless, short sleeved or long sleeved and the length of the shirt can be altered to be the length of a dress, if you so wish!

All you have to do, is comment on this blog post and let me know what colour(s) YOU would choose if you won your own custom bear! Bonus entries available for sharing this post on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, but please post each entry as a separate comment and link to the post that you shared it in!

NB: If you are entering from outside the mainland UK, I would ask that if you are successful, would you please cover the cost of postage? Customs charges can be a pain!

PS: One other thing! I forgot to put a closing date on this post before, so I shall leave it open until.... 5th August at midnight GMT. So still plenty of time for you all!

Testing, testing!

So, apparently, I can update my blog via email, which will be brilliant, especially as my smartphone (currently in for repair) is linked to google too....! Here goes, give me a shout!

Oh and I have also optimised this page for mobile use, so if you are on a phone, let me know how it looks!
--
The Crafty Ninja - Handmade cards and other crafts Facebook page!

Almost a year later....

Yes, I have decided to write a blog post again.

I haven't really got a good enough excuse for not posting, other than laziness, but I hope I can be forgiven.

I don't have time to catch up with all the projects I have done over the last year or so, but as a little background, I have had a VERY trying last few months. A big change happened in my life last November and it's thrown me out of sorts a little bit - actually - a lot. I won't go into detail here, I know some of you who may be reading this know the story, but I don't want to rehash personal issues on what is mainly a craft blog.

So, I have been crafting a lot more recently. I'm finding therapy in it, it takes my mind off of more poignant issues and have a lot more time for it too. I have taught myself to crochet quite effectively now and have been focussed on crocheting small items, whereas this time last year, I was knitting more.

Today, I have been blog-hopping to find small crochet items which can be used as embellishments for my cards. The one card I managed to complete today features a crocheted butterfly, with gems stuck on to decorate the wings. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I have had some positive response on my Facebook page so I'm feeling more positive about it. Please feel free to leave any comments.



So that's my post for today. I really hope I can blog more often and once again, I apologise that it's been so long!

I'm soooo sorry!

I'm a terrible blogger, I really am. And you are all welcome to punish me. Facebook has been my main source of self-promotion, so if you want to see what's been going on, click the become a fan link just over on the right hand side of this post!

My last post was about the cardigan I knitted for DS. I managed to complete all parts of it, but I got really lost trying to do the button and buttonhole band, but my OH's mum is also a keen knitter and she has offered to complete that part and sew it up for me! So once it is done, I will get another picture uploaded. I just hope it will still fit him when it's done - he's 2 now and his age 2-3 clothes are getting small already!

I've also been knitting a few small toys. I made DS a small teddy which went down very well! DD now wants one too, but I'm making her a ragdoll which I'm sure she will love even more. At this point, all I have to do is knit the second section of her dress before sewing, stuffing and embellishing!

And I promised I'd update on the craft fair I did towards the later part of last year. For me, it was successful, but I could have done better! I had about 40 cards set out on the table, all OOAK and the table cost me £5 for 2 hours, which wasn't too bad, was only a small village thing. But two tables down from me was another cardmaking stand with 4 owners who were all making cards as thy sat there and had huge filing boxes full of cards. And there was me on my tod with a pair of scissors! So most people were buying from them which was disconcerting as I knew how much work I had put into each and every card. I did, however, sell 5 cards making £8 in total - a profit of £3. Not great, but it was a start!

I now have a Cuttlebug die-cutting machine too and I am hoping to get more organised soon and be able to churn out a few more designs :) For now, I'm sticking cardmaking on a backburner as a hobby.

Sorry again for not updating sooner!

Update on DS's cardigan

004, originally uploaded by The Crafty Ninja.

I have just under a month left until DS's 2nd birthday and this is how far I have managed to get with it so far. One of the front pieces is sewn to the back piece, but the other side and the sleeve aren't as yet. I'm about 1/3 of the way through making the second sleeve as well. So far, I'm really pleased with how it's turning out! I think it should fit him for a long time ytet as well - I sized the pattern for age 2-3 years which he wears already, but this seems pretty big so I'll be pleased if he gets a years use out of it!

Facebook, commissions and craft fayres - OH MY!!

Well, I know I said I would update this more often, but it has just totally slipped my mind. I HAVE been doing a fair amount of crafting, I just... well to be honest, I haven't had the motivation to blog it! I was considering joining in NaBloPoMo next month too but I really don't think I'll be able to keep it up! It would defintiely be an inspiration to do more cradfting, which I definitely need to do as I have been invited to hold a stall at my very first Craft Fayre! It's on the 28th November at Hamstreet Village Hall, Hamstreet, Nr Ashford, Kent from 10am-2pm and I'm so excited about it! But, it's half term, and my main focus is keeping the kids - specifically DD - occupied for the week.

Anyway, if you're a regular on my blog, you may have noticed the Facebook fan page link just over there ----> see it? If you click on it, you can become a fan of The Crafty Ninja on Facebook if you aren't already! A few weeks back, I gained my 100th fan - the lovely Kathryn. I offered her a free commission, which she accepted for her mother's birthday. She gave me a little info about her mum - what interests her, etc - and I came up with this:



I have no idea why it's so small, but you can see more pictures of it from after Kathryn received it, her review and a lovely flattering post about me at her own blog Future Queen and her Crafty Ways! A big thank you to Kathryn and everyone who helps support me, you are all fantastic!